The Impressionists

This quiz addresses the requirements of the National Curriculum KS3 in Art and Design for children aged 11 to 14 in years 7 to 9. Specifically this quiz is aimed at the section dealing with understanding art movements and their influence on the world, and it focusses in particular on Impressionism and the Impressionist Movement.

In KS3 children will learn how to critically appraise historical works of art, as well as understand the influence ancient movements have had on art today.

The term 'Impressionist' was first used as an insult in response to an exhibition of new paintings in Paris in 1874. A diverse group of painters, rejected by the art establishment, defiantly set up their own exhibition. They included Monet, Renoir, Pissarro and Degas. The insult stuck and their work became known as Impressionism.

Most people today are familiar with Impressionist art and would perhaps describe it by referring to both the subject matter and the technique. Landscapes, and scenes from modern urban and suburban life painted in bright, pure colours were typical of the movement and many famous examples have been reproduced around the world.

Impressionists often began (and sometimes completed) their paintings outdoors rather than in a studio. Their rapidly applied brushstrokes are often visible. The paintings by the founders of the movement are so well-known and loved, it is hard to imagine how much of a storm they created in their day!

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Try this quiz to get an 'Impression' of how much you know about Impressionism!

Click on the pictures for a closer look.

1.

Which of the following is not a technique employed by the Impressionists?

Applying short, thick strokes of paint quickly

Applying colours side-by-side with as little mixing as possible

Avoiding the use of black paint

Only using 4 colours in each work

These methods, along with others, had been used before but the Impressionists put them together for the first time. This piece, 'Terrace at Sainte-Adresse' by Monet, shows them all

2.

Which period immediately followed Impressionism?

Post-Impressionism

Pre-Impressionism

Past-Impressionism

Pale-Impressionism

During the 1880s several artists began to develop different precepts for the use of colour, pattern, form, and line, derived from the Impressionist example. This piece is 'The Midday Nap' by the post-impressionist Paul Gauguin

3.

What is said to be wrong with this painting by Manet?

The colour choice

The use of realism

The setting

The perspective

The painting is called 'A Bar at the Folies-Bergère' and the use of perspective is still debated by critics today!

4.

During the Impressionists' first exhibition, an art critic harshly stated that what was more complete than the work he'd seen?

Wallpaper

A newspaper

A child's sketch

A Christmas card

His full criticism read: 'I was just telling myself that, since I was impressed, there had to be some impression in it ... and what freedom, what ease of workmanship! Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape'.
This painting is of St. Martin Canal in Paris and is by the British painter, Alfred Sisley, whose work was included in that first exhibition

5.

Why was this painting, 'Luncheon on the Grass' by Édouard Manet, aggressively rejected by the art jurors of the time?

There are too many subjects in the painting

The techniques used were too controversial

The colour palette is too limited

It did not follow the protocol for including nudes

While nudes were accepted in historical and allegorical paintings, Manet was condemned for placing a realistic nude in a contemporary setting

6.

This is the painting which inspired the name of the movement. What is is called?

An impressive boat on the water

Impression, Sunrise

An impression of the Sun

My Impression

The painting, 'Impression Sunrise', is by Claude Monet and was shown at what would later be known as the "Exhibition of the Impressionists" in April 1874

7.

Impressionism began in which city and in which century?

Rome in the 15th century

London in the 20th century

New York in the 18th century

Paris in the 19th century

A group of independent artists rejected the style and rules of the art of the day and developed their own style. This piece, by the artist Claude Monet, is entitled 'Haystacks, (Sunset)'